ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Officials are hoping to use millions in federal grant funding to offer voluntary buyouts to up to 100 homeowners in St. Charles County, but residents’ responses have been mixed.
The county is slated to receive $15.7 million in funding from the Housing and Urban Development’s disaster relief fund to compensate residents whose homes were flooded in 2019. The funds can be used to purchase homes and provide relocation assistance for income-qualifying residents in the designated buyout zone, which includes more than 990 homes in St. Charles, West Alton, Portage Des Sioux, Kampville and Peruque.
But some of the 140 eligible homeowners who previously expressed interest in the buyout now say they are uncertain if they will apply in three months when the application window opens. Their reasons are varied, including sentimental attachments to their homes, lingering questions about the buyouts and the expense of relocating to a new home.
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“My husband and I were interested in the buyout, but now we aren’t sure. With the real estate market being what it is, we aren’t sure that we would be able to find another house,” said Ashley Nicholas, who lives with her husband and 9-month-old child in a bungalow on a cul-de-sac in St. Charles. Nicholas and her neighbors are eligible for a buyout after flash flooding caused their homes to fill with water.
In all, more than 90,000 acres flooded in St. Charles County in 2019 — the equivalent of more than 68,180 football fields. The floodwaters damaged hundreds of homes.
Among the homeowners who saw damage was Kenny Vollmer, who lives in a community known as South Shore, which hugs the Mississippi River about 10 miles north of St. Charles.
Vollmer said he doubts he and his neighbors will be interested in the buyouts.
“I’ve been out here since ‘66,” Vollmer said. “Nobody likes the floods, but we know that it is a possibility for living out here.”
A property owner who is eager to hear what the consultants have to say is Kevin Healy, who bought his house on a dead-end street in St. Charles in early May. He said the previous homeowners were driven out because of their experiences with flooding in 2019 and fear of future flooding.
“I love this house, but I would be interested in what they have to say,” said Healy, who moved from Cottleville to St. Charles. He said he has spent close to $30,000 in renovations to the home. “I would be disappointed if, after all of this work, it was damaged by another flood.”
Stan and Debbie Leonard, who live across the street from Healy, shared that sentiment. The couple purchased their home in 2020 after moving to Ƶ from San Diego. Though they didn’t experience the 2019 flooding, they did describe further flooding in 2020 as “completely unreal.”
“My washer and dryer were floating,” said Leonard, who awoke to find 6 feet of water in his basement. Outside their home, the Leonards said the water was waist-high and coming in waves down the hill toward their property. Eventually, the couple sought refuge in their RV and eventually retreated to a Schnucks parking lot on higher ground.
He said the couple spent nearly $28,000 on repairs to their home and are still cleaning up nearly three years later.
“Even with all the damage, we just love this house and this neighborhood,” Stan Leonard said.
Robert Myers, who works in the county’s planning and zoning office, said the county will hire a third-party consultant to facilitate the buyout program. The consultant, who will be paid using the federal money, will be responsible for organizing public meetings, distributing applications to property owners, submitting applications to state and federal governments, conducting title searches and completing appraisals for each property.
“They will be doing much more than what people may realize because there is a lot that has to happen behind the scenes to make this all happen,” Myers said. He said a contract for hiring the consultant will likely be presented to St. Charles County Council in July.
Property owners can apply for a buyout if their property saw “substantial damage” and the cost to repair that damage was 50% or more of the property’s assessed valuation prior to flooding, Myers said. The applications window is expected to open sometime later this year. Residents’ applications will be scored by a panel representing both the state and the federal governments.
The applications will also be awarded extra points if the homeowner is considered low- to moderate-income, has a disability or is older than 65. The federal government has added criteria that 70% of the buyout program must be used to assist low- to moderate-income households.
Myers said it is uncertain how many people will submit applications and how many homeowners will actually receive buyouts. It is also unclear which community will be most impacted by the buyouts.
“We may have 130 or 140 people who have said they are interested, but it will all boil down to who actually applies for the buyouts,” said Myers. That initial estimation came from a letter mailed to residents in the buyout zones that asked them to gauge their interest.
“We need willing sellers since this is a voluntary program,” he said.
Donna Clayton, 70, lives in the buyout zone in West Alton, but she said she would not abandon the town no matter how much money is offered to her — and she said she isn’t alone.
“There is a group of us that are old-school West Alton, and we are not leaving,” she said. She remembers a time when the streets of West Alton were lined by homes with manicured lawns, children playing, thriving businesses and active churches.
“There was so much life in West Alton, and now it is just desolate,” Clayton said. “It used to be that we had baseball and softball teams, but now we don’t even have that.”
She recognizes that the buyouts could raze what remains of West Alton, but she isn’t worried.
“There will always be someone who calls West Alton home,” Clayton said. “And right now, that includes me.”
Editor's note: This article has been edited to correct the number of football fields that are equivalent to 90,000 acres.